When Hyundai can build a comparable car with superior materials, you’d think Mazda could do the same. Found in the new Veracruz but absent from the CX-9 are soft-touch surfaces nearly everywhere your finger can reach, replaced in the Mazda with an abundance of hard, albeit durable, goods. Kudos for the mesh headliner and the soft leather on the steering wheel, shift knob, and seats, and thumbs up for the padded door sills and armrests. Now, if designers could just keep the ball rolling onto the dash, the center console, and the pillars.